The Catfish Farmers Association of Nigeria (CAFAN) has commended the destruction was conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Federal Department of Fisheries (FDF). The National President of the association, Chief Tayo Akingbolagun, said that the destruction was a welcome development and would boost local production and consumption. Akingbolagun said that the aquaculture sub-sector was a major contributor of the sector’s total contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP). “The aquaculture sub-sector is responsible for over half of the agricultural contribution to the country’s GDP. “So, we are happy about the closure of some fishing companies because they are providing spoilt and unwholesome products to the citizens of the country. “This step by the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, will encourage local production and consumption. “This shows that government is taking into cognisance the quality of what Nigerians eat.
I must say our locally produced fishes are the most wholesome,” he said. Adesina recently said that production of healthy foods and wealth creation for Nigerians remained his top priority, irrespective of activities of those bent on importing food. He said that Nigeria had no business importing a lot of fish, let alone spending N127 billion to do so. Adesina said there were bad practices in the fish importation, claiming that the bad practices were killing the local industry and sending the local fishermen into extinction. In April, the minister clamped down on importers and fishing companies involved in selling spoilt and contaminated fishes. The companies were closed down, while the fishes which were discovered to be unfit for human consumption were destroyed.
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